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[[Image:Sinaiticus.jpg|thumb|right|A leaf from Codex Sinaiticus]]The '''Codex Sinaiticus''', or '''ℵ''' (alph), is a fourth century Greek manuscript of the Bible. It is second only to [[Codex Vaticanus]] as a manuscript witness for the text of the New Testament. Despite the age of the codex, the numerous mistakes found in the original text make it a less reliable witness than Vaticanus. Over the millenia, nine scribes attempted to correct it.  

The '''Codex Sinaiticus''' is a 4th century, Greek manuscript of the [[Old Testament]] and [[New Testament]]. The oldest complete [[Bible]]s are the [[Codex Vaticanus]] and the Codex Sinaiticus.

These two texts, though they comprise the oldest complete New Testaments,<ref>Although Codex W is usually dated as 4th-5th century, it was found in the ruins of a 2nd century city, suggesting it is at least that old. See, for example, Pickering, ''God Has Preserved His Text'', 31. Furthermore, there is controversy over whether Sinaiticus is a forgery or not. See Cooper, ''The Forging of Codex Sinaiticus.''</ref> were written hundreds of years after the oldest extant manuscripts.  Accordingly, virtually all modern translations of the Bible use the older manuscripts. Only the [[English Revised Version]] and [[American Standard Version]], each written around 1900, used the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus.

The codex was found in 1859 by Tischendorf at the Monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Tischendorf published the text in 1862 and presented the manuscript to Russian government, his sponsor. A facsimile was published by Oxford University Press in 1911. In 1933, the Soviet government sold the manuscript to the British Museum. There are 347 leaves in the British Library in London (199 of the Old Testament, 148 of the New Testament), 43 Old Testament leaves at the University of Leipzig in Germany, and smaller portions in St. Petersburg and at St. Catherine's Monastary.  

The website for the Codex Sinaiticus claims that is the oldest substantial book to survive from Antiquity.<ref>http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/</ref>

In addition to the now standard 27 books of the New Testament, Sinaiticus includes the Letter of Barnabas and most of the Shepherd of Hermas. The Old Testament is a Greek translation called the [[Septuagint]]. This is the version of scripture quoted by Jesus and the apostles.

:: ''Dates from the mid fourth century and originally included both Old and [[New Testament]]s plus the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, all in [[Greek]]. It was found in [[Egypt]], in  a monastery library on the slopes of [[Mount Sinai]] (St. Catherine's Monastery), by Constantin von Tischendorf in 1859, and brought to St. Petersburg. In 1933, it was sold to the [[British Museum]] in [[London]] where it currently resides.''

The Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest complete Bible to go online.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4739369.stm</ref> In 1975, the [[monk]]s of St. Catherine discovered many parchment fragments. Among these fragments were twelve missing leaves from the Codex Sinaiticus.

== References ==

== References ==

== External links ==

== External links ==

 

*[http://www.biblefacts.org/history/oldtext.html N.T. Ancient Manuscripts]

*[http://www.biblefacts.org/history/oldtext.html N.T. Ancient Manuscripts]

*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04085a.htm Codex Sinaiticus] Catholic Encyclopedia.   

*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04085a.htm Codex Sinaiticus] Catholic Encyclopedia.